Five Times She Says 'I Love You' and Jack Doesn't Return
by Luann L
Summary: To Jack, things are always more complicated when a certain platinum-blonde friend of his is concerned, what's more, when a L-word issue gets in the way. It might just take a bit longer for him to straighten certain things out before he spends all his chances. (One-shot. Modern AU. Human!Jack. No power.)


_**Hello to all the lovely readers!**_

**_Happy dropping by! This one-shot contains collective scenes in modern time of Jack and Elsa from they were around six to they were 22 and 23. As the title might indicate, Jack seems to need a longer time and more chances than average when it comes to love :p _**

_**Hope you enjoy the story~**_

_****_**Disclaimer: This story uses characters from Rise of the Guardians and Frozen, which are owned by DreamWorks and Disney. The story itself belong to the author. The story is made for entertainment purpose only.**_****_

* * *

**Five Times She Says 'I Love You' and Jack Doesn't Return (And One Time He Finally Does)**

* * *

**I. **

They are best friends. It doesn't matter that she's a girl and he's a boy, she likes reading and he likes soccer, she doesn't like him acting too rash and he doesn't like her being too cautious, Jack would still sternly affirms he and Elsa are best friends.

And so, it is natural for them to spend every possible time playing together. It is natural for them to share every bit of sweets their mothers make them. It is natural for them to make the other's happiness their priority. Because they are best friends. (It almost becomes a standard answer of Jack's whenever some other boys tease or question him being too protective over or close to a nerdy, boring _girl_.) It is perfectly natural for Jack to consider himself as his petite sweet friend's guardian (despite the fact that he's a year younger and she is a bit taller) to make sure that merry glint he finds incredibly sparkly in her big cerulean eyes would never fade away.

But his self-determined mission is dangerously threatened when the Iversen's family cat, Olaf, dies during his first grade.

Elsa doesn't smile for two days since. She even cried twice the first day she told him the news. And that's utterly devastating to Jack. He doesn't know what to do nor what to say. He asks his mom and she tells him, patiently and soothingly (like he is still a little kid, which he is not because he knows how to be a _man_ to stand up and protect his best friend.) She says that what Elsa needs right now is the company of her friends and time would do its work. He seriously doubts if time ever does any works or it's any good at it because he has spent a _whole day_ staying with Elsa offering his company and she is still sad and teary. He figures he should just do something on his own rather than depending on some untrustful time.

He finds the perfect solution when he passes the toy store on his way to the Iversen's the next day. He rushes back home and finds his piggy bank. Getting frustrated but quickly regaining his high spirit as his dad hands him the right amount of money he lacks (which is nearly the same amount of money of the price), he gets his perfect solution and excitedly heads to his previous destination.

He proudly presents the stuffed animal to his best friend, beaming and waiting to see the smile back on her face. But confusion comes across her features first.

"What's this, Jack?"

"It's Olaf. I bought it for you."

"But it's a leopard, Jack. Olaf is a cat."

"It is a cat." Jack says insistently before uncertainty fills in his voice as he takes a closer look at the stuffed animal. "It's not a cat?"

Elsa breaks into a smile that Jack misses so much as she takes the toy leopard and Jack into a hug.

"Thank you, Jack. I love you."

Now _that _is definitely too girlish for a boy, Jack thinks as he quickly pulls away.

"You know you could just thank me with some chocolate..."

* * *

**II.**

"Please, please, please, you _have to _know how to fix it," Elsa mumbles as she paces back and forth in her room in a blue tank top and a pair of white mini sport shorts.

It's getting hotter and hotter outside with the approach of summer and there's only one fan working in the corner of her room while Jack working frustratedly with her computer. It doesn't help at all as the platinum-blonde girl keeps pacing and mumbling behind him, let alone having her lean over his shoulder to look at the computer screen to check on his progress from time to time.

_It must be the heat_, Jack thinks as Elsa once again leans over, the heat radiating from her body making his nerves stretch.

"Are you sure you know how to fix it?" Elsa asks, eyeing her computer worriedly.

Jack returns in a rather harsh tone. "Could you please let me do my job and stop questioning my capacity?"

"What's with the tone here?" Elsa furrows her brows and straightens up, arms folded defiantly over her chest, but there's a hint of hurt in her voice that Jack would have missed if he didn't know her this well.

"Sorry, Els," Jack turns and apologizes, reaching a hand to grab hers. "It's the heat. You know how bad I could be under hot weather. And-" he gestures to the computer with the other hand, "-I was just... having some troubles here. A bit trickier than I thought."

"Should we go find Kipp?" Elsa suggests, her posture softening under his words as she gives his hand a squeeze. "He seems to know everything about computer."

Jack knows it would be much easier and way much quicker if they go seek said friend's help, but somehow he feels the urge to prove himself as reliable as the other boy, who happens to be so intelligent that sometimes Jack wonders if the boy would take over his top rank in Elsa's friend list since the scrawny, bespectacled boy and his book-loving best friend could easily fall into a discussion of advanced calculus that he fails to understand and find it interesting.

"I can fix it," Jack states matter-of-factly. He turns back to the computer, clicking and pulling up a few more windows as he tries hard to recall what Kipp has done with his computer when it got shut down by some viruses before.

Elsa chuckles. "Boys and their pride."

Jack catches Elsa flopping in the chair next to him, flipping through the pile of books she has placed on the table before deciding to settle herself without one. As she rests her chin in her palms watching him, Jack once again finds himself getting distracted.

_It must be the heat_, Jack thinks again, distinctly aware of her bare shoulder and leg nearly brushing against his. He has to pay twice amount of effort to focus on her computer while he mentally scolds the temperature for leaving him this conscious of his best friend's presence. _It _must _be the heat_.

He tries to compose himself by retorting with a smirk. "Hey, did I ever let you down?"

"Well, you never let me down for not being there for me, yes, but..." Elsa drawls and trails off. Tilting her head to the side and giving him a sly smile, she starts listing. "Remember the slide incident, the cookie tragedy, the pinkie-swear-to-never-mention-to-any-third-party event? Mind my going on?"

"Okay, I get it," Jack grunts, giving her a scowl. "Sometimes I really hate your perfect memory."

"I know that's one of many traits you love me for," Elsa says in a sing-song voice, smiling ever so endearingly at him with those beautiful blue orbs glittering elfishly.

Jack finds himself blushing for no reason.

_What's wrong with you, _Jack berates himself, shifting his gaze back at the computer screen. _It's just a smile. And this is _Elsa. _It must, it _has to_ be the heat. _

He could feel his pulse raise as he buries himself in the task, secretly wishing Elsa doesn't notice anything.

With a few clueless clicks, Jack lets out an excited cheer as he sees the missing files reappear on the desktop. Fist pumping the air, Jack turns and beams at Elsa. "I did it! I did it, Elsa!"

Elsa takes a quick look at her computer screen and breaks into a wide grin. She jumps out of her chair and throws her arms around Jack's neck, giving him an enthusiastic hug. "God, you fixed it! Oh, I love you, Jack. You save my life!"

Blush once again finds its way back on Jack's face. He struggles to form a proper sentence under the tingling sensation that runs down his spine. But before he does, Elsa has already pulled away and got to her computer.

"We should stop doing this," Jack finally mumbles.

"Doing what?" Elsa asks, eyes still on the screen, checking the files.

"Hugging," Jack starts, feeling somehow embarrassed.

Elsa turns and throws him a confused look. "What's wrong with hugging? It's not like I _huggle _hugged you."

Jack swears his heart skips a beat as he sees a shade of red adorning his best friend's cheeks.

"It's the heat," Jack then reasons, more to himself than to her. "And you wear too little."

Elsa raises a brow at the statement. "And it's fine for you to tackle me down the pool when I was in my swimming suit?"

"... Okay, then it must be the heat. We need some cold drinks."

"Lemonade and extra ice, please," Elsa calls as she turns back to her computer.

"Yes, your highness," Jack answers with an air of feigned insincerity.

He hears her chuckle as he passes the door and reassures himself for the umpteenth time that afternoon.

_Yes, it's all about the heat._

* * *

**III.**

"Jack, how about Friday night? I heard Jamie saying that soccer team doesn't have practice this week."

Jack rolls his eyes as he picks up his pace, trying to get rid of the annoying girl.

"Jackson, please," Jack acknowledges in a flat voice.

"Oh, come on, Jack. You don't have to act shy," the girl giggles. The artificiality of her voice makes the corner of Jack's eye twitch in discomfort.

"Jackson," Jack states again, turning to the girl to show her his stern expression, hoping the girl could get the hint of his unwillingness and leave. But it seems that either he is too lousy an actor or the girl is just too airheaded to receive such a clear note as she reaches out her arms to drape his.

The girl giggles again. "Okay, _Jackson. _So how about Friday night?"

Jack shifts his weight away from the girl, gingerly removing his arm out of her grasp. "Sorry, I don't think my girlfriend would be happy with it."

"Oh please, I know you don't have a girlfriend. We both know you are too good to settle for one girl," the girl gives a flirtatious smile and wink.

Jack fights the urge to walk away on the girl right here and there as he returns with a curt nod. "Thanks for the praise. But I do have a girlfriend."

"Who's then?"

_So I really don't have a girlfriend, can't you just get the hint that I don't want to go out with you, _Jack thinks, but instead he replies almost instinctively. "Elsa."

His chest tightens as the name rolls off his tongue, feeling the sensation of ecstasy and guilt washing over him. He knows better than to have his mind linger a moment too long on the secret crush he has for his best friend, which he realized in his eighth grade when he got unnecessarily nervous over the fact that she's heading to high school without him. He could feel the same nervousness getting stronger and stronger with each passing day towards her graduation. And it's even more unbearable now that Elsa has grown into an unbelievably beautiful young adult, with all the left childish notes nearly gone from her features and the curves gracing her slim built. There's no way those stupid boys in college would neglect her beauty nor would they be able to see and appreciate her wicked and witty personality that waits to be discovered under her regal demeanor.

"Elsa? Elsa Iversen from twelfth grade?" the girl asks incredulously. "No way you two are a thing!"

Jack almost winces at the words. "What? Am I not good enough for her?" _I really ain't, am I? _he couldn't help but think bitterly.

"Oh, cuddly puppie. How can you be not," a bright voice cuts in as someone snakes an arm around Jack's and takes his hand, long fingers lacing with his longer ones.

Jack automatically leans closer the moment he feels her touch against his skin. A delicate smile breaks out on his face as he catches the stifled laughter in her silvery voice.

"Elsa," he calls her name, a trace of softness in his voice, his gaze, and his posture that he has grown to know how to hide from the owner of said name, afraid of being met with her apologetic look and the inevitable ruin of their friendship.

"Miss me?" Elsa greets with a sweet smile. She bats her eyes as she catches his gaze, arms holding tighter onto him. "I've been looking for you. You said you'd pick me up after school."

Jack almost laughs out loud at Elsa's acting, which she could totally excel at if she wanted to but always leaving a trail in her eyes or her voice for him to tell. Playing along, he reaches out a hand to brush a lock of her platinum-blonde hair off of her face and carefully tucks it behind her ear as he returns in a similar manner of a lovestruck teen. "Of course I miss you. I was just about to call you but got caught in a discussion with... Sabrina is it?"

"Samantha," the girl scowls.

Jack pulls up the most innocent expression he could muster as he offers sincerely. "So sorry, Samantha. So about Friday night-"

"Friday night?" Elsa cuts Jack off, pulling away from him and crossing her arms. She squints her eyes at her brown-haired friend, which leads him to stifle another laughter as he sees the corner of her pursed lips twitch ever so slightly, indicating her inward battle with the laughter threatening to come out. "You told me you will be having soccer practice. And now you are planning to go out with some girl without informing me? Are you cheating on me, Jackson Overland Frost?"

"No, no, no. Of course not," Jack hastens to reply. He holds out a hand to reach Elsa, pausing for a brief moment before deciding to land his hand on her lower back and pulling her closer. "Why would I ever want to choose another girl over my precious queen?"

Elsa presses her lips tighter as though she doesn't buy her 'boyfriend''s words, but both friends know that if she were to open her mouth, there would only be laughter coming out instead of words.

Elsa blinks at Jack, signaling him to act. Jack blinks back as he holds up his free hand, finding the back of her neck and gently having her forehead pressing against his shoulder—as he has outgrown her since ninth grade and reached a new record of six inches taller than her last month—to hide her face from the other girl's sight. Curling his arm around Elsa's waist, Jack pretends to whisper pleading words into her ear while he's in fact chanting the mnemonic rhymes Elsa has taught him for his history exam, which earns him a shaking Elsa in his arms, warring with her building urge to laugh aloud.

He tilts his head a bit towards the direction of the other girl, who stands still in stun at the scene before her. He casts a quick glance at the platinum-blonde in his arms before looking back up, an indulgent smile having found its place in his lips. "I am sorry. She's a bit emotional. And possess-" he gives a small yelp as Elsa pinches him hard on his waist, "-cough, sive."

"I'll... just leave you two here," the girl hesitantly gives the 'cuddly' couple a wave before she takes her leave.

Once the girl is out of sight, Jack swiftly pats Elsa on the back, acknowledging her the girl's absence. Elsa sneaks a peek before she lets out the fit of laughter that has been tormenting her into Jack's chest.

Jack couldn't help but hold her closer as he joins her merry outburst, his cheek touching her hair deliberately while he takes in a long breath of her crisp, bracing scent, stealing a moment of closeness he isn't allowed to have as a friend.

Elsa slaps his arm and pulls away, face in a beautiful pink under the hard laugh. "Hey, Romeo, stop acting. The audience was long gone."

Expertly pushing back the stinging feeling, Jack pulls up a smirk. "Hey, I can't risk being seen faking. You will be gone in a month, while _I _am being left in the hold of a bunch of flesh-wanting girls that desperately want a piece of me."

Elsa laughs, giving him a good-natured roll of eyes. "You sure aren't humble, are you? Where's the lovable modesty of yours? I miss it."

"You wound me, Elsa," Jack fakes a sad expression, shaking his head dramatically. "You know I am still the sensitive, soft, little boy inside of me."

"Likely," Elsa scoffs, giving Jack's arm a poke as she squints her eyes at him. "Though I could tell you become meaner."

"What have I done to earn such a comment?" Jack tries to reply in a tone as light as Elsa's, but ending up scolding himself as he hears the faint uncertainty in his voice. He has become too serious about every word she says, striving to meet every bit of her expectation under his daring hope that one day, when she falls in love with someone, it could be him.

"_Sabrina, is it?_" Elsa does a perfect impersonation of him addressing the girl in that innocent voice only the two friends can tell the truth. "That could totally break a poor girl's heart."

Privily giving a sigh of relief, Jack holds up both hands and clears. "It's not my fault the names sound similar."

"Yes, after a year in same class of literature," Elsa notes sarcastically.

Jack laughs. "Okay, okay. Guilty as charged. But how about you? Cuddly puppie? Where did you get the idea?"

A blush creeps in her cheeks as Elsa sticks out her tongue at him. "I overheard Jo making funny nicknames for Flynt. Cuddly bear for one. But let's face it. Puppie fits you better than bear. And we were kind of in an emergency there."

Despite himself, Jack breaks into a soft smile as he hears how naturally she refers the problem as theirs. He gives her a small nudge, causing her to look up at him. "Thanks, Els."

"That's what friends are for," Elsa says, a beautiful smile gracing her lips, which turns a bit impish as she continues. "But since I've ruined my reputation for you as a sensitive, possessive girlfriend, I am free on Friday night just for you to know."

Getting the hint, Jack promptly returns with a knowing smirk. "What a chance! Our beautiful princess, would you give me the honor of taking you out to dinner? Friday night. Six thirty. Treat on me at Nic's. And two portions of your favorite chocolate cake?"

"I know I love you for a reason, Frost," Elsa chuckles, carrying herself up to leave a quick peck on Jack's cheek. She winks at him while she pulls back, chuckling again as she sees the flushing red against his fair skin. "I am looking forward to our date, dear _boyfriend_. See you."

She waves him goodbye and he waves back. Jack watches her leaving figure as he swallows down the formed lump of respond in his throat.

_I love you, too. _

It could come out so easy, pretending to be just another chaste remark sharing between friends. But he knows he couldn't, not after repeating it so many times in his head.

And the least he wants to do, is giving her something that's too heavy for her to bear.

* * *

**IV.**

The game could end any minute now and the two teams are still tied one to one.

Jack races ahead, slicing through the other team's center forwards while finding gap for his teammates to pass the ball to him, careful not to fall into other's off-side trap. He sees the ball being pinballed between his teammates as they moves quickly down the field. They all know clearly that this might be their last chance before they would have to face the extra time, or even penalty shootout, with their head goalkeeper injured due to a rather serious collision with the other team's striker.

Jack could hear the roaring crowd cheering forcefully from the bleachers. Even though he couldn't single out her voice among the deafening cheer, Jack knows Elsa must be holding her breath as the 4-minute injured time quickly reaches to its half. It would be their first national champion if they manage to defeat the two-time defending champion, the Crashers, which they've called themselves, from Beran University.

He takes a quick glance at their opponent's goal, seeing their goalkeeper, Hans, smirking as he shifts from side to side with the movement of the coming ball. Jack couldn't wipe off the annoyed frown graved deeply between his brows as he recalls the guy standing Elsa up after she finally accepted his thirteenth ask of a date, which she had claimed thirteen to be her lucky number and that it meant the guy was being serious if he'd bothered to ask so many times, only to find out that it was just a bet between the jerk and his friends on whether he could have the hard-to-get Ice Queen go out on a date with him. She was hurt, not so much because of the guy but the guy's action, which had made her feel that she was only a goal for some guy to achieve but nothing more.

It happened about two weeks before this game, and he was determined to hit the guy square in his face the moment he heard it from the girl he swore to cherish with all his might, but getting stopped right away by a nervous Elsa, telling him that the guy isn't worth him risking being banned from playing the following games. He was glad that she wasn't crying at the time or he doubted he could restrain himself from being on his way for some serious punching. Though considering his body type with the tall beefy bastard, he might get some serious injury in return, but he couldn't care less about the consequence when Elsa was concerned.

Jack moves towards the penalty area as he gets blocked by one full back from the other team, seeing most of his teammates has made their way down to Beran's backfield, leaving only two of their full back lingering in midfield. It is their last chance of goaling. It's now or never.

Jack shifts forward as he catches their midfielder do a cross pass in his direction. But next moment, he's almost had his face connected with the grass field as he lands rather harshly a few yards away from the penalty area, both hands clenching at his left shin. A low groan escapes his gritted teeth as he hears the referee blow the whistle.

Jamie is the first one who gets to his side as the referee announces they get a place kick due to the other team's foul.

Jamie helps Jack back on his feet as their teammates gather around them to discuss who would do the kick, since the distance between the spot and the goal could serve a great opportunity for a well-aimed long shot. After a few quick exchanges of opinions, it is down to Jack and the other striker.

"Can you do it, Frost?" their captain asks.

Jack nods, standing straighter just to feel his left shin throbbing with pain, which, luckily, is bearable.

Ready behind the ball, Jack eyes the goal and the defending players, measuring the angle as he strides forward and shoots. The ball crosses the air and passes the front line defenders but before it passes the goal line, with a fist punch, Hans blocks it out.

The ball cuts through the mixed group of players and bumps into Jack's teammate's chest. With a deft chesting, his teammate stop the ball and does a quick pass toward Jack, the only player of theirs who is clear.

Jack moves, getting to the path of the ball. Bringing back his right leg, he swings, seeing Hans dives to the left. And before the red-headed goalkeeper could register it is a deceptive movement, Jack has had the said leg crossed behind the left one and kicked the ball in the opposite direction. He lets out a cheer and finally permit his legs to give in as he sees the ball pass the spare side of the goal and hit the net.

He almost misses the sound of the final whistle as the crowd burst into a fit of frantic acclamation and he gets tackled down by his elated teammates.

Everyone's beaming, roaring and cheering. Some even cries. Jack is no exception, grinning like a maniac. But he couldn't help but look over to the stand and his grin grows wider as he sees a certain platinum-blonde racing down the field toward him. He props himself up just to be tackled down again by a close-to-tear Elsa. He hears her hysterical chuckle beside his ear as he wraps his arm around her waist.

Elsa pulls away slightly, looking down at him with both hands supporting on either side of his head and a brilliantly bright smile placing across her face.

She lets out another chuckle before she emits in a rather whispering, husky voice. "Jack, you won! You won the game! You beat the Crashers and _won the game_! Oh, you are my hero, Jack. I love y-"

He doesn't know what possesses him in the moment, but with her hovering above him, smiling so beautifully with so much proud of hers for him swarming in her crystal blue eyes, he finds himself pulling forwards, crashing his lips to her rosy, curling ones in an inept kiss and bumping her nose ungracefully while doing so.

He is about to panic when he breaks away a second later, knowing it is something he should have never done. But to his great surprise, with no fury or vexation, only a tinge of dashing pink in her cheeks, Elsa smiles softly down at him.

"A victory kiss?" she says, chuckling, voice soft like a whisper. "I can give you that."

"Hmm, and you said you two are best friends, huh?" a voice raises from above their heads, causing Jack and Elsa to tilt their heads to the back and see Jamie grinning slyly at the two half-tangled friends.

"Jamie!" Jack exclaims as he quickly removes his hands from Elsa's waist. He lies back, arms and legs outstretched and face deep red. His body tenses as Elsa lifts herself up, legs brushing against his sides.

"Why yes. And that's why you don't get one," Elsa returns the brown-haired player with another sly smile of hers.

Jamie shrugs. "I thought it was because I had the decency to not seek my best friend's lips."

"I knew you've always had a thing for our Jack," even with a blush in cheeks, Elsa manages to quip back with an easy fashion, while Jack could only remain lying on the same spot, flushing fiercely at his teammate's statement. "But better ask first to see if he'd like to get any kiss from you."

"Let's just save it," Jamie says, giving the lying boy a knowing, lopsided smile. "Since our man of the match has got the prize he wanted the most."

"Stuff it, Bennett!" Jack retorts deadly, but his flaming cheeks brings down a great degree of his intensity. "Go bother your girlfriend or anybody else."

"And leave you with yours. Got it!" Jamie laughs. He gives a two-finger salute before he disappears in the crowd.

Elsa chuckles heartily as she holds out a hand for Jack to take and helps him get to his feet. She tosses a look at the cheering squad before she gives him that special smile they share whenever they are up for something just between the two of them. "So… should we go find you a girlfriend or you fancy a sneak to celebrate at your favorite restaurant with your best friend?"

Jack can't help but break into a wide grin, feeling so grateful to have her in his life, even though all they will ever be are just friends.

"I assume you won't trick me into having a date with Jamie and the said best friend is you. Then," Jack says, cocking his head to the opposite side of his ecstatic teammates. "Yes. Just take my hand and run away before they catch you stealing their star player of the game."

Laughing brightly, Elsa takes his hand in her warm, soft one and tugs him to leave the playfield. "Please, Jackson Frost. If there's a thing I am trained to do, is to steal you away."

_Yeah, I know, _Jack replies mutely to himself while he watches her high ponytail swinging seductively in front of him as they move across the field. _Like how simply you've stolen my heart with every little thing of yours._

* * *

**V.**

For a mere second, Jack can't recall what has led up to this moment. Then recollection starts flooding in.

It would have been just another study night for the final, which he'd gladly skip if he didn't nearly fail in the midterm. He could vividly recall Elsa's half amused half sorry expression as she thought that his sudden drop of score had something to do with her no longer having time to spare to study with him after she graduated. Even though it was partially true, Jack had laughed at her for coming up with such a stupid idea and assured her that he'd have a jumping improvement for the final.

She called when he had just sat down in front of his desk. He picked up the phone and heard her voice at the other end of the line, dripping with excitement as she told him she'd got her first group project as the group leader at work. She declared it deserved a celebration and invited him to her apartment. He went to Nic's to buy her favorite confection before he headed to her place and earned himself a big smile and a tight hug from her as he raised the take-out box for a salute when she answered the door.

Elsa had placed a bowl of strawberries and a bottle of champagne, along with two champagne flutes, in front of the sofa in the living room, having removed the small tea table and stuffed up the empty space with cushions and blankets, like how they've always arranged the small area for their movie nights.

They finished the strawberries and two flutes of champagne each as they filled each other with their current status, those things of his they once experienced together at campus and those things of hers he had yet to know at work, before Jack got up and went fetch her the dessert he had bought.

He set the re-heated molten chocolate cakes in the bowls before he scooped each portion a ball of ice cream. He then brought them back to the living room, finding Elsa looking through the small selection of movies they'd purchased but hadn't got the time to watch. He grimaced as he saw her smiling triumphantly and pulling out a case, which, judging from its cover, would be nothing but one of the few horror movies that he had protested against buying but caved in the moment his gaze met her pleading one.

He sat straight and stiff beside Elsa as the movie kept playing on the screen, cringing every single time the screen flashed. He even choked on a gasp he failed to hold back when he was startled by a sudden scream coming from one of the female characters. Elsa had laughed blithely at the scene, clinging to his side as the fit of laughter took over her.

He had always suspected, when she claimed watching horror movies to be one of her favorite stress relievers, she wasn't talking about movies but the uneasiness he acted when watching one.

It wasn't saying that he minded it though. Since they had known each other too well and had somehow been there to witness (almost) every awkward moment of the other's, he had no reason to feel embarrassed. But she had been too close, so close that he could feel the curves of her body press against his arms and her soft locks tickling his skin. He was torn between pulling her closer and pulling himself away, as his heart beats quicker and harder and his fingers were itched to touch that stripe of exposed skin of hers beneath her slightly rolled-up shirt. That was when he made the biggest mistake that night as he tried to add some space between them without her notice by distracting her with food and drink, of which, leading to his later dismay, they had devoured the former and only had the latter to spare.

He cursed under his breath when he felt her arms snake their way around his right arm and her warmth once again lean in onto him. He peeked a look in her direction and cursed again, as he caught her glassy, part-lidded eyes. She was drunk.

How could he _ever_ forgot she was a light drinker? He had sworn he'd remember the first time they had accidentally got her drunk when they were in high school, having sneaked his father's beers to imitate the idea of a Friday night they had seen in a movie. The one time their first kiss had happened under her wasted status.

His body tensed as he recalled said kiss, the one he had remembered too clearly and she had had no chance to remember. The memory mingled with the present as he was met with her sweet breath, even sweeter now that it was laced with a tint of fruitiness from all the champagne she had consumed.

Giggling beside his ear, she teased. _"What with all the stiffness, Frost? Is this one too much?"_

_No, you are the one that's too much. _Jack thought to himself while he opened his mouth to answer, but, at last, he only managed a grumbling 'no'.

Elsa let out another low giggle, seemingly having thought he'd been acting tough, and Jack's body tensed even more as her warm breath brushed his earlobe.

He tried to pry her off of his arm (no need of being cautious since she had been drunk) before she could lean any closer but ending up having them both fall to the side as she lost her balance, dragging him with her when she fell.

His face burned up at the position they were in, with him hovering a few inches above her lying on her back on the blankets. He could hardly hear her chuckle over the deafening sound of his pounding heart in his ear. And before he knew it, Elsa had had her arms drape over his neck and pulled him down, finding his lips with hers.

His head was in a frenzy of buzz while his body took action beyond his reason, encircling her slim figure in a tight embrace as he pressed harder against the softness of her lips, tasting every bit of her that he could reach. She kissed back with same passion, arching forward into his arms and leaving no reason for him to stop. The room seemed to heat up as two friends were drown in the sudden longing for the other.

He would have gone further if he hadn't heard her puffing out those words.

_"I love you," _she had said into the kiss, voice low and muffled between swollen lips.

But they were louder than thunder in his ear as Jack froze and broke the kiss, his brows furrowed despite himself as he looked down at her, seeing her confused expression and the status she were in, locks of platinum-blonde hair having loosened from the plait and spread out on the floor, white shirt being ruffled with the first two button undone under his unconscious need to get to touch more of her.

_"Jack?" _she had called, worried, and for a mere second, he couldn't recall what had led up to this moment till memories filled in and swiped off his hesitation that it might all have been a dream.

"You all right?"

Her voice breaks his retrieval. He blinks, slowly registering what they have done, what _he _has done, to _her_, before he promptly jumps away, leaving more than a leg-length between them.

"No, no, no, no, no," Jack mumbles hysterically to himself. "What have I _done_!"

"Jack?" she calls again, propping herself up, still looking lost at his reaction. She holds out a hand to reach him but stopping the moment he snaps rudely.

"No! Don't! Stay away!" he frustratedly buries his face in both hands as he retreats once more. "Just... stay away..."

Suffocating silence permeates the room and it feels like years to Jack before her dry voice pierced the air. "...I thought you liked me."

Jack's head shoots up, eyes wide and face pale in panic as negation coming out of his mouth as quickly as though he has prepared the answer for his whole life. Though it isn't far from the truth.

"N-no!" he stutters, more to himself than to her. "I didn't, I don't. You are, we are friends."

She squints her eyes at him, a faint scowl on her face and a tinge of pink in her cheeks, probably because of the alcohol or the anger.

"You kissed me back," she accuses.

His heart hits hard in his chest and it almost hurts. A part of him screams to tell the truth, tell the feeling he has harbored for her for so long, but a part of him keeps warning, saying she is drunk and has no idea what she has said, what she has _meant_. Those three words, they are too good to be true. "I-I was drunk. I made a mistake-"

"A mistake?" her voice gets higher as she queries angrily. "That's what you called it? A _mistake_?"

He cringes at her tone and his own voice raises as he replies. "I wasn't supposed to kiss you!"

"Then who are you supposed to kiss?" she shoots back, voice no longer high but cold, and Jack could see tears start swelling up in her blue eyes. "I thought you liked me. I thought we had, we had shared something. The way you feel for me. And I you. I thought you _knew. _You've always treated me so different, so special. You made me believed that, that we are more than friends. And I've waited and waited and waited. And what have I got?" she gives a bitter sneer before she continues. "A denial. A denial from my _best friend_ who has just made out with me a minute before on the floor!"

Jack is speechless. His brain is still a mess under the influence of alcohol, but, slowly, very slowly, her words start sinking in and, for the very first time that night, he starts to believe that she, the woman he has loved for his whole life, actually likes him back.

But he has taken too long to process and she has misread his silence as she brings herself up from the floor, expression stern while her eyes scan the room, taking in the empty bottles of champagne and probably his colored cheeks.

"Just... take the sofa and drive home tomorrow."

"Els..." he starts but trails off as he catches her eyes. He knows the look. She doesn't want to talk more in the moment.

He watches her disappear behind the door to her bedroom before he curls up beside the sofa. He reassures himself as alcohol begins taking over his consciousness, thinking it is better to clear up her terrible misunderstanding of his feeling for her when they are both sober and determining that the first thing he will do in the morning is to tell her that he loves her.

But he doesn't catch her the next morning (as she, like always, beats him in waking up earlier and, for the first time, leaves him without waking him up and leaves no note for him to tell where she has gone.)

He catches a cold instead.

* * *

**VI.**

He assumes it will be easy (or at least easier), because it is Elsa and they are _best friends_, despite the fact that he has loved her since like forever (which he hasn't told her yet even after she might have implied she has the same feeling for him a few days before). But he guesses, whenever things are concerned with women, nothing can be easy.

Burying his face in the pillow, Jack makes a miffed groan. The heat of the fever is getting on his nerves and he can feel his temper rising. But at the same time, he feels lonely. He misses her. So much.

Jack turns his face in the pillow to the side and glares at his cellphone which he has placed beside him. No beep. No vibration. No hint of anything has happened since he sent that text to Elsa. His phone could have died without his notice. But he knows it doesn't because he has checked and it is (to his further annoyance) perfectly fine, with its perfect amount of power left and its perfect reception.

Jack once again buries his face into the pillow, feeling like dying. Vaguely he recalls Elsa teasing him acting like a child when being sick, always asking for companionship and reaching for attention. But, no matter how many jesting remarks she has made, Elsa has always been there for him, offering water, medicine, soothing words and, for once, a lullaby (which she reluctantly agreed to hum for him after he had begged for like half an hour) that had him drift into the soundest sleep he had had in days. And he needs her so much, now more than ever, as he can feel Elsa holding back, retreating to somewhere people call 'friend zone', which he had stupidly believed to be where he was destined to be stuck in forever but has just realized that he has never been. She has given him all the opportunities, even privileges, to get to her heart. All the hugs, all the smiles, all the gazes and all the kisses, stolen or unstolen, known or unknown, they are her ways of saying her feelings, her ways of _waiting_. And he just has to be this stupid to have known till now.

Jack tugs at his blanket as he digs his face deeper in the pillow, curling into a ball. He stays motionless in that position for a few unbearable minutes while his body keeps screaming to take some rest his mind isn't willing to grant so easily. Groaning, he reaches for his phone, sliding it open as he sticks his head a bit higher to peek through the edge of his pillow. Typing a few words in his phone, he pauses, thumb hovering above the 'send' key on the screen.

He glares at the flashing blue bar at the end of his message, those three words he has determined to tell her in person.

_I love you. _|

He doesn't know which is worse: she refusing to answer this message or she rejecting him through a text if he ever presses 'send'.

At last, timidity gets the better of him as he shoves the phone under his pillow and flops over on his back, staring at the dull, white ceiling above his bed.

"Elsa..." he calls to the air, letting her name linger on the tip of his tongue, tasting it, until drowsiness finally bestows the rest his body's been yearning for and he falls in an uneasy and heated sleep.

He wakes up to a tickling feeling on his face and a cool softness caressing his forehead. He opens his eyes (with extra effort as he is so darn tired) and gapes as he sees Elsa sitting on the edge of his bed, frowning slightly at his feverish forehead.

"Els..." he tries to call but stops, bewildered at how dry and croaked his voice has become.

Her delicate brows furrow even deeper as she gently brush his damp locks from his face. Jack releases a low sigh and closes his eyes as Elsa runs her fingers through his hair, combing them backwards so his forehead can be exposed to the cooler air in the room.

"You didn't say you were having a fever."

Jack's eyes shoot open as he catches the hard note behind her soft voice.

He turns and meets her eyes, apology leaving his mouth almost instinctively. "I am sorry."

Elsa shakes her head and says nothing. Her hand keeps playing with Jack's hair while he stares at her in meek silence.

"You didn't go see a doctor, either."

Wincing, Jack apologizes again, eyes searching for any possible trace of anger on her face. "I am sorry. I was busy..."

Elsa raises a brow.

"...reaching you," Jack finishes abashedly.

Elsa gives him a disapproval look before she shifts her weight to stand up. Jack quickly grabs her wrist, preventing her from leaving, and surprises both of them by pulling her too hard that she falls back on his bed on her butt almost ungracefully. But Jack doesn't care how much trouble he's going to get or how huge a rage he has to put off later as he hears his name slip off the young woman's lips in an astonished manner, he just reaches forwards, wrapping his arms around Elsa's waist and burying his face in her stomach.

He starts rambling, because there's nothing else he can think of doing at the moment and he just wants her to know, to understand, and, above all, to stay. "I am sorry. I am so so so sorry, Elsa. I am an idiot. A hopeless moron. You should've disowned me as your best friends and made a much smarter one. But you never did. And I can only hope that you aren't planning to do so anytime soon-"

"Jack, I-" Elsa starts but Jack isn't finished.

"No, no. Let me say this," Jack says, propping himself up, one hand on each side of her legs, and looking up at her. He can't tell her mood as a few strings of her platinum blonde hair screen her eyes, and feels his throat threaten to give up at the lack of moisture. "I-I just—I never, even till this very second, it's just so hard to believe that Universe has finally gone out of its mind and had someone like you to like someone like me. You don't know how lucky I consider myself to be the one you come to when you are sad or frustrated, or those rare times you don't want anyone's company except mine. And I've long made up my mind that, no matter what role you want me to be, as your friend, your family or that significant someone, I will always, _always _be there for you. So, you were wrong, Elsa. It wasn't a denial. There would be no denial from me when it comes to you. Because I love you, Elsa Iversen. And you just _have to _know that."

Jack releases a shaky breath as he finishes, eyes fixing on her the whole time. Elsa isn't looking at him as she has lowered her head sometime during his confession.

Titling his head to the side, Jack calls hesitatingly. "Els—ooph!"

Sight being blocked, Jack is taken aback as Elsa's hand finds its connection with his face in an almost rough manner. Barely maintaining his balance not to fall off the bed, Jack shift his position to spare a hand to remove hers from blocking his eyes, but stopping as he hears a strange, stifled sound coming from the woman before him.

It's a sniff. And Jack panics.

"Elsa? Els? Oh no, no, no, no. Don't—god, is it me? Did I-"

Another hand claims his mouth, this time taking his ability to talk.

"You—idiot!" comes her snuffled address.

And suddenly, Jack isn't panic anymore.

Jack hears Elsa take another sniff before she removes her hands from his face and, with a few blinks, he is greeted by a red-nosed Elsa.

The corner of his lips tugs up into a lopsided smile as he leans forwards, taking her hands. "Elsa?"

Shooting him a glare with those beautiful blue eyes of hers, Elsa only mutters. "You better have something saved to say when you propose."

"Oh, Els," Jack can't help but laugh, yearning himself a slap on his upper arm. One hand finding the back of her neck, Jack tilts his head and presses a gentle kiss between her cheek and the corner of her pouted mouth. "And I thought I couldn't possibly love you more."

She gives a huff (and a chuckle that has escaped itself from her lips), poking him in the chest. "And I thought I came here because someone said he's sick."

"No, I am so sick. And I need you, Els..." Jack says as he falls back and drags her petite figure with him (eliciting a small yelp from her) onto his bed, hugging her tightly like a child clinging to his favorite teddy bear.

"I know," she laughs softly, ruffling his hair, and it is so beautiful that Jack finds himself near to tear. "You sent me the text."

"And you are here," Jack says in her stomach, trying to hide the sob in his voice.

She must have caught it, but, instead of laughing, she plants a kiss on his head. "And I am here."

"And you love me?"

A stifled laugh. "I supposed so."

Arms tighten. "...I love you, Elsa."

"I love you, too, Jack."

* * *

**Deleted scene:**

When Jack wakes up feeling fully recover from the cold the next day and finds himself tugging a sneezing Elsa in her bed that night.

"How come you... did you take advantage of me when I was asleep?"

"Why, no! What's the... is that why you always got sick after taking care of me?"

"_No. _Of courses not... okay, just sometimes... okay, okay! Most of the time! Happy?"

A raised brow.

"I am sorry..."

"Idiot."

"Hey, you are a light sleeper! How could I possibly steal any... okay, you don't have to know _that_."

A sigh. "Jackson Frost."

"...How can you say my name like it's scandalous?"

"Because I meant-" A sneeze.

Water and capsules.

Few seconds and an empty cup. "Thanks."

"You should get some rest now."

A nod and a yawn. "I should. But why are you climbing in my bed, mister?"

A kiss on her cheek. "There's nothing better than having your boyfriend snuggling with you for a sound, nice sleep."

"Did I say anything about boyfriend yet?"

A pout. "Els..."

"Yes?"

"I love you…"

A kiss on the corner of his mouth. "Do you want to know something?"

"Sure."

"I did take advantage of you when you were asleep."

"I knew-" A pillow in his face.

"Go to sleep, Frost."

"Umnite."

"Goodnight."

* * *

_**So, this is a supposed-to-be-small one-shot that has gotten**__** WAY too big that, at some moments, I almost believed I could never have it finished. But I am so happy I finally did! And I really hope you like it!**_

_**It was originally just a piece of work I wanted to pull out after the World Cup's games. I was getting over excited at the result of the game and I just couldn't get over the idea of Jack playing soccer and Elsa getting all excited after he won the game. And so you've seen, part IV of this story has been born! Then scenes started popping out that I could only turn it into a one-shot challenge which I've always wanted to do (the 'five time he/she does something and one time he/she doesn't'.) **_

_**Anyway, it feels so good to get back to write something after a long trip. But since I am now drown (distracted) with ideas and still a bit in my traveling mode, it might take longer for me to update my other story (I distinctly mean BB&amp;B). Any reader of that story out there, please bear with me while you happily ship these two cuties! **_

_**Feel free to follow(?), favorite and review! I appreciate all of them! Love, LuAnn**_


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